The Academy’s Ankle Reaper – Chapter 137

As soon as the bishop entered, the academy was thrown into chaos by a bombshell announcement.

The Empire’s nobles could not harm a bishop affiliated with the Church Country.

“Did you know about this, Andy-senpai?”

“There’s no way I could have known… I saw those people for the first time today.”

Andy let out a heavy sigh.

After suffering a severe headache from the Power of Domination, he seemed dumbfounded to receive such a strange official notice right after being discharged from the hospital.

“To be honest, it’s good that people like them are coming since I had a rough time with a demon before. Being controlled by a power… it’s terrifying. If that’s the case, isn’t it safe to deal with demons?”

Having been directly controlled by that power, Andy said he had developed a trauma toward the Demon Bishop.

He had consciousness, but his body wouldn’t move as he wished. He described it as watching a horse go out of control while riding.

“You said you helped me, right? I’m grateful, but you could have been a bit gentler.”

It seemed he wanted to mention how he broke his leg to keep him from moving while being controlled.

Though he wasn’t serious, a sudden heat rushed to my head.

-Thunk!!

“Ah!!”

“Do you have any idea how hard Casey worked to stop you? Even if you were controlled, it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight if a student had died.”

“Come on, that was just a joke…”

-Thunk!!

“Ah?!”

“There’s a time for jokes.”

As I heard his nonsense, I gave him a few light punches, and he shrank back.

Casey, who had just recovered, had bothered the principal and Andy enough that I barely managed to stop them from cutting off an arm each. Now, he was saying stuff like this, and I thought I should hit him a bit more.

“Dealing with the other professors is exhausting, but now we have to worry about the Church people too…”

“That’s the least we have to endure, what can we do?”

Senpai and I leaned against the balcony and glared at the hallway.

On the walls of the academy hallway, where people passed by sporadically, a notice about the Code of Conduct mentioned by the bishop was posted.

Prohibiting absurdity and unlawful cross-sex relationships,

Just those two clauses were bound to cause a huge stir.

I hadn’t seen it, but the Newspaper Club must be writing an article about it by now.

.

.

.

The bishop’s unexpected speech was a fresh shock.

Most students didn’t think he was saying it seriously at all.

How could they eradicate absurdity and relationships within the community?

It was indeed absurd, but everyone just laughed it off.

“Prohibiting unlawful relationships… what century are we living in?”

“Do you really think they will enforce that?”

River tapped his thin silver spoon against his cup in rhythm.

After chatting briefly with Andy-senpai, I entered the café with River.

I had called Amy, but she wasn’t there.

Seems she was talking to Rio-senpai.

While everyone else was laughing off the newly proposed Code of Conduct, River felt that the bishop’s words were rather serious.

“Well, he doesn’t seem like the type to joke around with that kind of face.”

“He definitely looks like someone who would follow principles strictly.”

That was the logic behind not joking based on appearances.

It was just a gut feeling, but still accurate.

Bishops were cold-hearted individuals who might find their way into positions of power without knowing the concept of compromise.

“Is that Code of Conduct truly effective in dealing with demons?”

“The Code of Conduct isn’t just nonsense. It’s true that emotions fluctuate a lot during relationships, which is why monasteries often prohibit them.”

The bishop could now strengthen the barrier to block demons coming in from the outside, but it was hard to find the naturally occurring demons from within.

The demons’ annoyances could be blocked from entering, but there was no way to prevent them from moving from Hell here.

When demons crossed over from Hell, two major conditions were needed: the first was a ritual to summon them, and the second was a horrific negative emotion for the demon to sense.

Therefore, the Church country tried to maintain emotional steadiness as much as possible to suppress demons’ invasions.

“I think it’s too much to impose that on students.”

The clause prohibiting unlawful cross-sex relationships particularly hit home for the regular students.

In an academy filled with teenagers, there are undoubtedly many couples.

I was, of course, one of them.

Naturally, there was no reason for the academy to regulate that.

Though they banned men from entering the women’s dormitory to avoid any shady business, there were no other restrictions.

I placed my hand on River’s as he sulked while fiddling with the silver spoon.

She wielded swords often, but her hand felt soft enough to me.

“How about we go out soon, just the three of us like we discussed? Me, you, and Amy.”

I wondered if the Demon Church would send terrorists again after that incident.

The bishop had been attacked, so they must know ordinary methods wouldn’t work anymore.

However, a rational mind would suggest it was normal not to even consider such a thing.

It was always better to remain cautious.

“That’s a very tempting offer, but I really should prepare for the final skills assessment now. Let’s go after that.”

“I’m not worried about it.”

“You might be fine, but I, along with Amy, do care.”

“You’re amazing, though. So just perform well for the skills assessment…”

“What kind of logic is that?”

Now that I thought about it, while I passed the mid-term skills assessment, the final one was creeping up.

With no care for grades like me, I was just waiting for this to be over so I could enjoy my break.

“Do you remember what I said previously? To study together?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

I was looking forward to that.

I heard Amy went to meet Rio.

Seeing she left right after the announcement, it must be something important.

“It’ll be a relief if it’s nothing serious.”

——————————–

After leaving the café, I headed to the laboratory.

I should go see Professor Praha after a long time.

“What is that, Professor Praha?”

“Whah?!”

As I whispered near Professor Praha, who was deeply engrossed in writing something, he jumped up like a spring-loaded toy.

“Don’t scare me like that! Make some noise when you come in…!!”

“I knocked, but you didn’t notice.”

“That doesn’t mean you just walk in!!”

It was Professor Praha who failed to hear the knocking after I had done so several times outside.

Since I felt a presence inside but received no response, I walked in.

“Ugh… what do you want…?”

“What could I want? I just came to check on my health and see how my research is progressing.”

“That makes sense.”

Hearing my reason, Professor Praha set aside the document he was working on and pulled out some papers from somewhere.

Watching him do this, thoughts of documents my younger sister gave me suddenly crossed my mind.

Is he still sending research results to the Titan?

“Are you still in contact with Titan?”

“Yes… I actually sent a summary of everything from the past week again last week…”

“Was that about the fact that I grew a bit after taking the drug?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say anything back?”

“…Are you not in contact with Titan?”

His cautious question pricked my heart.

“I don’t talk to him often, but it’s not like I don’t at all.”

Though I wasn’t avoiding contact with Titan, I also didn’t communicate often.

It felt immensely awkward to send any letters, even though there was no reason to feel that way after our father and mother’s deaths.

Still, the discomfort lingered.

“Uh… have you measured your height lately?”

Professor Praha appeared surprised as soon as I mentioned measuring height.

If he reacted like that, could it be that I’ve grown?

“I haven’t had the chance to measure it because of all the strange happenings lately… What’s going on?”

“You’ve grown! 149.9… you’re really just a step away from 150 now… What happened recently??”

“Really?”

I looked at the figure again, and it was indeed 149.9.

A rush of various emotions swept over me in a moment.

Surprise, joy, and… confusion, among others, flashed through my mind.

I was so happy I wanted to dash out immediately, but I kept it in.

“Recent events… if you ask what they are, that’s a lot to discuss.”

I had dealt with at least three Demon Bishops.

Seeing me deep in thought, Professor Praha cautiously opened his mouth.

“In fact… I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. The first drug I created is already effective, and the reason you might not be growing now could be a psychological issue.”

“A psychological issue? I thought that wasn’t related at all.”

“The drug I made promotes growth hormones released from the brain and supplies the necessary nutrients for rapid growth at the right spots. It doesn’t factor in that someone who is an expert can control their physical condition through mind control. The drug is working, so something might be inhibiting your growth depending on your psychological state.”

That made quite a bit of sense.

For someone above the expert level, they could do various things with just their mind.

After all, the mindset plays a significant role in determining the form and properties of the Aura Blade.

“Thinking back, all successful cases have been normal individuals, and since we’ve never tested it on experts, we lack data, so I think we should try this out.”

“Experts haven’t taken that drug before, right?”

“Well… usually, experts grow robustly during their training…”

Professor Praha stopped there, fearing it might reveal too much.

Common experts grow well during their training, but I might be the only one still stuck like this, even up to the Master level.

“If a psychological issue is the problem… then this isn’t necessary.”

“This is…?”

I put the items I brought back into my coat.

“This is the spinal fluid from the Hydra, Orthos, and Cyclops. All three are powerful regenerators, so I thought they might help, but it seems they aren’t necessary.”

“Is it?? Let me think again, but I do think it’s necessary!!”

At that moment, Professor Praha blurted out his desire not to miss the opportunity to study the spinal fluid of legendary monsters.

– Crash!!!

Suddenly, I heard something breaking outside the hallway.